Book Recommendation: The Joy of Less

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The Joy of Less Overview

From the back cover:

The Joy of Less is a fun, easy to follow guide to minimalist living from bestselling decluttering expert Francine Jay. Inside you’ll find:

How pairing down can make you happier

10 Easy Steps to Decluttering your Home

Specific techniques to tackle each room

How living lightly can help save the planet

Decluttering tips for the whole family

Dig in and be on your way to a more simplified, more streamlined, and more serene life.

What I Love About The Joy of Less

First, the structure of the book allows easy reference to the information, making it a simple, straightforward guide.

Part 1 : “Philosophy”

This book starts off with the “why” of minimizing and decluttering, my favorite feature of The Joy of Less. Most likely if you are reading this book you already know why you want to simplify your home, but please don’t skip over this section. Part 1 inspires me in my decluttering journey and puts into words why I want to practice minimalism in my home. My favorite quote from Part 1 is:

How simple yet powerful is that statement? For this reason, Part 1 really puts me in the mindset to declutter.

Part 2 : “Streamline”

Next, Part 2 covers techniques to begin decluttering your home as a pre-course for Part 3.

Part 3 : “Room by Room”

Tackling your home room by room, the topic of Part 3, is the bread and butter of the book. As the “how to” section of The Joy of Less, you can declutter at your own pace since there is a chapter devoted to every room.

My favorite section in Part 3 is about your kitchen.

Do you make my life easier (or more difficult)? Sure, I can cook rice and boil water on the stove top, but my rice cooker and tea kettle make my life easier. Therefore, they earn a spot in my kitchen. On the other hand, I let go of my cappuccino machine because I hated to cleaning it, and found it much more pleasant to go out for a cup of coffee instead.

Full of such simple concepts as these, The Joy of Less has me re-thinking the purpose of each item in my kitchen.

Part 4: “Lifestyle”

As a final point, Part 4 dabbles in easy tips on reclaiming your time and your calendar. The small, concise chapter serves as a good intro into having a mindful day, but it’s my least referenced section of the book.

Why I Recommend the Joy of Less

Overall, this easy read acts as a handy reference in my simplifying journey. Most of all, the simple techniques are not on the extreme spectrum. This comprehensive handbook to simplifying your home is great for anyone looking for inspiration to declutter, whether it be your whole house or just a closet. For this reason, The Joy of Less makes a great library staple for anyone pursuing a more simple home.

About the Author

Francine Jay is the bestselling decluttering expert and founder of MissMinimalist.com. She has helped hundreds of thousands of people organize their homes and simplify their lives, and has been prominently featured in national media.

Decluttering is a huge challenge for me, thanks for the encouragement. I know it would help, but……..I must work on changing my nature. I just heard a tip to pick things up and carry them closer to where they go when you move from room to room. It sounds like how could this help, but it so does. The tip came from Gretchen Rubin.

Looks like a great book! I haven’t read this one, but I did read Marie Kondo’s ‘Spark Joy’ and it was about decluttering as well. It appears to have a different philosophy than ‘Joy Less, but I would definitely check this book out as well. I love looking a different perspectives of things.

i’m honestly enthralled by all of these kinds of books and posts lately. I feel like they are becoming more and more popular as life is getting fuller and fuller of “extras”, when we really don’t need them. I’ll be adding this to my book list! Thanks for the review!

This is so great. When we continuously add new stuff i.e. gadgets, clothes, jewelry, activities to our life, we can’t really give our best . It’s that old adage that “Less is more.” Declutter is a lifelong process of discerning what truly matters.